Laweyan Batik Village will Develop into a Digital Village
(Surakarta, 10/21/2022) Batik is one of the Indonesian cultures that has been recognized by the world, therefore this culture needs to be preserved properly, so that it is maintained until the next successor. The decision of the Solo Government to establish a Laweyan batik village encourages traditional batik entrepreneurs in Solo to rise again, one of which is the Laweyan batik crown business.
This batik business has been established since 1956 under the name Batik Puspowidjoto, until finally changed its name to Mahkota Batik Laweyan in 2005 due to the vacuum of production for approximately 16 years. This batik business was founded by the late Mr. Radjiman Puspowidjoto, the elder of Mr. Alpha Fabela Priyatmono’s father-in-law as the successor of this batik business.
The products of this batik crown business is various, ranging from fashion such as clothing for both women and men, then there are also interiors such as paintings. So batik products from this business are not limited to clothing but there are also other uses. For the price of the products offered ranging from 100 thousand to millions depends on the difficulty of manufacturing such products. Especially paintings that use batik accents and have complexities in their manufacture are pegged at a price of millions.
Mahkota Batik Laweyan itself has not yet carried out export distribution to foreign countries, but this batik business has distributed its products almost to all cities in Indonesia.
“Actually, we have the opportunity to export products abroad but I haven’t had time to take care of it,” said Mr. Alpha as the successor of the Laweyan batik crown business.
The charm of the beauty of batik fabrics also attracts many tourists who come to the production house of Mahkota Batik Laweyan, ranging from local tourists to foreign tourists. In previous years most of the foreign tourists who came were from America, as well as Europe. Local tourists who come also come from various provinces in Indonesia. These tourists come to learn how to make traditional batik because this business also opens training workshops for tourists.
Laweyan Batik Village producer community also held competition in commemoration of national batik day on October 2, 2023. The competition was diverse, there were photography competition, painting competition in batik fabrics, and much more. These competitions were opened to the public with no specific age restrictions.
In addition, the Laweyan Batik community also holds educational activities for the community. In accordance to the Solo Government plans, Laweyan Batik Village will develop into a digital village, with the help of Telkom through Indihome. The activities of the digital village are digital-based education such as education about branding or marketing batik products. This activity will last for a year.
The Laweyan Batik Village community also collaborates with RSPO, RSPO is an association for the certification of environmentally friendly palm oil raw materials, and an example is the use of wax made from palm waste in making traditional batik. In essence, many activities will be carried out in Laweyan Batik Village in the near future to advance Laweyan Village.
“Hopefully, with the existence of this batik village, it can better introduce batik culture to the community, gratitude to the international. To preserve the local culture, it must be pioneered, yes, it has been recognized by the world and in particular we are environmentally friendly batik and hope that the city of Solo can become the center of environmentally friendly batik and from Laweyan this is where the movement began.” Mr. Alpha said.
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Reporter : Fadiya Shofar (Communication Science’ 20), Amarta Setya Wijaya (Accounting’ 19), Yuni Sulistiawati (Mathematic Education’ 19)
Writer : Fadiya Shofar (Communication Science’ 20)
Editor : Ayu Ukhti Muslimah (English Education’ 19)
